I remember reading an article somewhere about the future of journalism, and how our future newspaper may change. The author said that because the news is now available in an online format, it changes the idea of journalism as we knew it. In the past, a reporter would go out, take notes, do interviews and other research, and write a story. The paper would be delivered to people's homes, and they would then read the articles written by journalists.
Everyone has opinions and some even know other details relating to a story. Where people use to just speak to whoever was around about an article, people can now comment on stories right on the website. Have you ever read the comments section of an article in The Boston Globe? People get straight up nasty. Some people simply voice an opinion, or give a piece of information relating to the article. Never the less, we're now able to interact with our news, and in some cases, change the news.
Could this interaction be viewed as negative, though? Some of the things I've read in comment sections have really made me believe that a lot of people are just jerks. Perhaps if I met these people in person, they'd behave differently. We all know the idea of anonymity makes people brave. But I don't believe it's a license to be ignorant and insensitive. The worst offenses of this came after articles of political nature.
People are so passionate about THEIR politics. I think politics is a private matter, but clearly not many other people do. The comment sections of online papers have become places where people can slam others, and not be held directly accountable for their words. I could imagine how in a lot of cases, would anger the author of the article. He's educated in journalism, put all this work into a piece, only to have a bunch of a-holes use it as fodder to insult each other.
We need to be nicer to each other, people. At the end of the day we all have the same needs to fulfill. The internet has brought people closer to each other than ever. Let's not use it to alienate.
I love what you have to say here. Every time I browse political talk shows I am appauled by the lack of professionalism with some of these hosts. So much for the composure when you voice your opinion on a particular candidate or piece of legislation. Like you said we all have the same needs and wants, and some of these politicians or people in TV who have all these opnions on them make themselves look like an ass. Makes me hate the system and the vicious cycle of rights and wrongs.We all eat, sleep, desire social interaction, affections, adventure, righteousness, and what not, but how are we going to maintain it if all we do is tool on each other?! Working out differences and evaluating pros and cons to circumstances maybe will be more effective in getting viewers to think critically about political decisions.
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